Forbidden: A Downton Abbey Fanfic

Perhaps...This is the End

"Mr. Barrow?" A woman approached the tall gentleman. 

"That is me." Thomas Barrow smiled down at the short woman. She, of course was flustered and did not know where she should be. "What do you require?"

"I was simply looking for Mr. O'Connor." The woman gestured to a flat tired car outside. "You see, I had a small problem."

He held up his hand. "Say no more, I will notify him straight away and see if he has any previously scheduled appointments." The woman was nodding, relieved to have some help. Clearly, she was having a difficult day. Thomas had his share of those, as many do. Thomas stood and made the eight foot journey to Daniel's "office", which was , technically, no office at all. It was a garage, inside, Danny knelt down underneath an old pickup truck.

Opening the door, quietly, Thomas crept up behind his boyfriend. "Hello."

Danny turned and embraced him quickly, so as to not leave any car oil on his jacket. "Hello, dear." He eyed the door to the garage suspiciously. "Shouldn't you be at the front desk for customers?"

"I didn't think my boss would mind." This made Danny smirk, then Thomas spoke again. "Well, actually there's a woman here, with a flat tire on her car, can you help her?" He curled a piece of Danny's hair with his index finger.

"I suppose..." Thomas pecked the ginger man on the cheek, before exiting through the wooden door across from them.

"I love you." Danny said, continuing to work on the car in front of him. Thomas returned with his sentiments as he left the room. To say he was giddy, was an understatement, he was absolutely euphoric. 

2 years, 2 months, and 3 days. That was how long it had been since they moved to America. Now, it was anything but simple. You see, the moving was a disaster, much of the money was spent on getting from England to the beautiful state of New York. In many ways, the state was very similar to London, actually. There were sprawling hillsides in places, and a bustling city in other locations. New York City. Absolutely perfect, until Thomas insulted the wrong person...and, their money was gone. Luckily, they were left with their possessions. Daniel immediately found a post office, after persuading the matronly woman at the desk to send a letter to Jimmy and Blodwen, pleading to be lent some funds until their could earn their own. Following that excursion, she offered him a job sorting the mail, and out of pity for him, a job cleaning the office for Thomas. 

Weeks went by, Thomas and Daniel staying at a home for immigrants, a few streets from their new employer. Finally, a package came into the office, addressed to Daniel. It was a small sum of money from the Kents, along with it, a letter and a picture. The letter:

Dear Danny,

You and Thomas, somehow I just knew that trouble would find the two of you sooner rather than later. Well, it is to be expected, I assume. How is America? Is it as glorious as it claims to be? I do hope it is not so glorious, as to entice you to stay from Dublin too long. Has it really been a month since you have gone to New York? How time does pass fleetingly... Attached is the money we could afford to send at the moment. I would have liked to phone you, however I doubted that you would have a telephone near you at the moment, so I will tell you in this letter, we are expecting another child. I do know that one is a great deal of work, but come now dear, we're Irish.

All our love,

Blodwen, Jimmy, and Clover Kent.

The picture was a lovely photo of Jimmy, Blodwen, and their daughter Clover. She was enchanting, the little girl shared her mother's eyes, her father's smile and most definitely her mother (and his) bright cinnamon locks. The money included was also a monumental relief. They were able to make a downpayment on this small house, enabling them to move in and allowing Danny and Thomas to find other jobs for Danny, a job working for a kind old repairman, turned car mechanic. And, Thomas was able to work as the man's new secretary.

For a long while, their life appeared ordinary, until the man who gave them their new occupations, unfortunately passed away. But it seemed, Lady Luck was at last on their side, it was discovered that the elderly man had taken a great liking to Danny, being as he had no other son, and his wife had long been gone. His will had addressed Daniel O'Connor as the sole heir to his apparently small fortune, along with his house and the repair shop, hence the garage.

Now, Jimmy and Blodwen were the proud parents of 5 children, with a sixth on the way. Each had their mothers eyes, and surprisingly, only one with the curled rust tinted hair. The remainder of the offspring shared either their father's square jaw for the boys or their mother's plump, rosy cheeks. The four without similar hair had startlingly platinum blond hair. It was truly a sight to behold, an Irish Catholic family, with blond mops gracing their heads. Somewhere, in the family tree, one of their ancestors was the cause of that part of the genetic makeup.

After sorting out the details with the woman up front, the bell above the door clanged. "Hello, how may I help...you?"

Inside walked, none other than Tom Branson. 

Thomas nearly choked on the glass of water he was consuming. "Mister Bran- Tom, how peculiar it is to see you here." Thomas left his chair and moved to shake the former member of the Downton hierarchy's hand.

"Oh come now, Thomas." Tom embraced him in a friendly hug. Then he moved to shake his hand as he previously declined to do. "How are you faring? If I'd have known this is why you left Downton, I would have insisted on providing some support. Financially or even accompanied you." 

"No, I would have simply declined the help." Thomas was thrilled to see a familiar face. "Besides, I left with Daniel." Tom's expression did not change, luckily, he too was more progressive in his opinions.

"I see. Well, believe it or not, I did come here for a reason other than to reminisce, I am looking for work." Thomas grinned.

"Say no more, we could always use the help around here, you simply would not believe the amount of work that people need around here." They shook hands once more, agreeing on a pay, and talking to Danny, who came out when he heard the commotion outside his door. The subject changed, however, from work to their lives in general. Thomas and Daniel regaled their tales of the journey to America and every blundering moment of their slow building career there. Tom discussed Sybbie and how she was one of the brightest in her school. Soon, with the help of Thomas and Daniel, she would join her father in New York and they would stay in their house until they could find somewhere more permanent for themselves. The dreaded topic ultimately arose, Annabelle. 

"I would just like to express once more my most sincere condolences for what happened to dear Annabelle, years ago." Eventually, after much silence, "I know that if anything happened to my Sybbie I would be  positively devastated." Tom said, Danny nodding in response.

"It has been difficult, but sadly, we cannot change the past." Daniel looked over to a sullen looking Thomas. "But we have made it alright." His boyfriend's face lit up as he explained to Tom their plan to visit England in a few years.

"That sounds wonderful." Tom grinned at the two men he had come to know well, he did not appear to care in the slightest that the two men were romantically involved. Tom Branson had been raised in an Irish Catholic family that, as opposed to instilling the strict regiments that followed the religious practice, taught their children to be kind to one another and respect others. No differences they had mattered. So, Tom had no issue with their relationship.

Soon, however, it was the evening and the trio ate together. 

Finally, Thomas Barrow was gifted the best happily ever after he could have hoped for, a second chance.